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S'hari
The S’hari are a race of humanoids designed by S'Har. They mostly look human save for a few distinct characteristics, chief among these is the head, which can come in a variety of shapes but always resembles a bird’s head. They also have a foldable set of small and mostly useless feathers extending from the shoulder down to the pinky finger. The S’hari resonate particularly well with magic, and count almost all of the most powerful magicians in Skaldjr to be amongst them. Dispite their bird-like characteristics, most S’hari cannot fly using their wings alone, but with magic... most of them actually can fly. It’s confusing. Because of a mishap before the Great Fuckup, the S’hari have an extreme dislike for humans, which is often misinterpreted as militant xenophobia. Creation After returning from his many adventures and ascending to become the sky god, S’har, following in the footsteps of Childe and Bralg, decided he wanted his own people with which to identify. To start he flew around the world, plucking a pinion feather from each of the most distinct and interesting birds who flew his skies. He came to a stop on Svol Nirin, where he found a small group of tribals. He took each man, woman and child aside, stabbing each with a different feather and turning them into a hideous bird-headed person. Their bones became hollow, fluffy down feathers grew where hair once was, but otherwise their bodies remained human-shaped. S’har then taught them how he wanted them to be. He arranged them into castes, gave them land to settle, and finally showed them some drawings of cool things that he thought they should build to honor him. He then flew off back to his house and basically all but forgot about them. Orginization The S’hari are intensely rigid in nearly everything they do. From birth every S’hari’s life-long career is decided for them based on a method called “pluming” which is no more complicated then a priest examining the type of bird-head the baby has and deciding from there. From then on each citizen is groomed to fit his chosen position in life fitting into one of several established castes. The Nimbostrati (or the “pillars”) are the ruling class; kings, priests, high magicians, as well as more minor administrators and commissioners fit into this caste. Nimbostrati who lean towards leadership tend to have heads like eagles, roosters, and turkey, while the ones that end up in the clergy or studying magic for a living tend to have heads like cardinals, or various types of owl. The Cirrostrati (or the “exceptional”) tend to be super-specialists. Very few Cirrostrati are groomed unless expressly needed by the society, and when one is chosen his job could end up being nearly anything, but they have mostly been known to cover positions ranging from ambassadors, artists, scholars or, most commonly known to the outside world: assassins. The more social side of the spectrum tend to have heads like tropical birds like parrots and toucans, while the more dreaded side tend to take on features of corvids such as ravens, crows and magpies. Altocumuli (or the “heap”) is the most meat-and-potatoes kind of package you can get as a S’hari. Altocumuli are bakers, builders, and soldiers. Any common societal role that you need filled is probably taken by one of these bird-bros. Many of the less exotic bird-heads are expressed here, such as jays, sparrows and finches, robins, thrushes, woodpeckers, and even goofy-lookin’ ducks. While this caste breakdown seems simple, it has been effective for the S’hari for hundreds of years. Also, no matter the caste, a S’hari is encouraged to utilize magic to perform his given job. Life The S’hari primarily live in the city of Bespin, which is situated on the side of a mountain, breaching the lowest cloud layers as it moves up, and pouring into a sprawling taiga forest as it moves down. Bespin is modulated into tiers used to organize the castes. S’hari buildings are open to the breeze, and typically have a more primitive feel when compared to the amenities that humans prefer. The outskirts of Bespin are riddled with magnificent stone pyramids that climb to intimidating heights, and it’s easy to spot the huge palaces close to the top of the mountain that shine like gold when the morning and evening sun hits them. It’s assumed that these were crafted by means of magic, as there aren’t any visible quarries for stone with which to build such large monuments, and the colder climes surrounding the city don’t promote such things either. In the years after the Great Fuckup, when humanity was rebooting itself, the S’hari didn’t have much choice but to expand. They were mainly opposed to the idea of setteling other areas because it was said that S’Har never intended for them to, but Bespin was simply becoming too crowded and their citizenry were demanding so many resources that a single city could not provide. The S’hari War A long time ago the S’hari received a prophecy from S’Har stating that they would go to war with a group of starborn and be completely obliterated, afterwards their spirits would rise to live with S’Har in the eternal sky. They were ecstatic for this news, but they would not meet a human for a very long time. When a group of traders arrived in Bespin, they found the S’hari bristling for war. The bird-men slaughtered the men up to the last, who they sent back to warn his brethren that war was approaching. The humans were confused, but prepared to defend themselves. They were a small village, with a hopelessly tiny militia, but they set traps and dug trenches all the same. As the bird-men finally approached and the battle erupted it was almost heartening to the humans as they took ten lives for each one they lost. It was as if the S’hari were either retarded, or not even trying. However, the numbers of the bird-men were growing, while the human’s numbers only shrank. Eventualy the villagers were forced to retreat, but they were amazed to find that the bird-men weren’t pursuing. The S’hari pulled back to give the humans time to regroup, but they wouldn’t let them run away, herding any escapees back into the confines of the village. Eventually they became tired to waiting, and instigated another battle, the humans fought like an animal backed into a corner, and managed to take many of the S’hari down, but there wasn’t much hope for them. The village ended up being burnt by the angry S’hari and every remaining villager stuck through the heart with a spear. The S’hari returned to their city angry, not understanding how they went wrong. The prophets assured the people that the human village was only one small settlement, and that more would come soon to seek vengeance for the lives they took. This unfortunately became a blatant lie as time passed, and the bird-men became more and more embittered over the incident. For a many years, when humans would approach Bespin they would be angrily chased off, or killed on sight, which taught humans to fear them as an unknowable powderkeg.